Alabama gets final College Football Playoff spot over Ohio State

Now, let the ravenous fan base from Columbus have at the College Football Playoff committee.

It should be an interesting discussion for weeks — who really deserved the fourth and final spot in the CFP?

The committee believed it was the Coach Nick Saban’s team. Crimson Tide fans rejoiced Dec. 3 as their team grabbed the No. 4 spot in the four-team playoff.

Alabama — 11-1 and not a conference champion — will play No. 1 seed and ACC champion Clemson (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 in one national semifinal. In other semifinal, Big 12 champion and No. 2 seed Oklahoma (12-1) plays SEC champion and No. 3 seed Georgia (12-1) in the Rose Bowl, also on Jan. 1.

Many expected Ohio State to get in, but would have done so with some controversy. The 11-2 Buckeyes would have been the first two-loss team to make it to the playoff in the four-year history of the CFP. OSU defeated Wisconsin, 27-21, in the Big Ten Championship game Dec. 2, while 11-1 Alabama watched on Championship Saturday as Georgia defeated Auburn in the SEC title game.

Another factor that might have hurt the Buckeyes was an ugly, 31-point loss at 7-5 Iowa earlier in the season.

The Buckeyes did beat top 10 teams Wisconsin (12-1) and Penn State (10-2), plus a 48-3 victory over 9-3 Michigan State. Meanwhile, Alabama did not have many marquee wins. The biggest were against LSU (9-3) and Mississippi State (9-3). What hurt was the fall of Florida State, which began the season ranked No. 3. The Crimson Tide beat the Seminoles, 24-7, but FSU quarterback Deondre Francois was hurt in that game and the team stumbled to 6-6.